In the Darkness

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

~Prov 29:18

Back when we camped in a tent we always tried to remind everyone, the children and ourselves, to go to the bathroom before dark. There would be no street lights, no lights or lanterns hanging in campsites along the way, no way to see the path through the dark trees. In the middle of the night, there would only be darkness, the darkness that hid tree stumps, snakes, spider webs, and skunks. A thick darkness that closed in around us and chased us up the path to the bathhouse. Inevitably someone would need to go potty in the night.  And if one has to go everyone needs to go. Pity the camper whose flashlight batteries were low or gone.

I find traveling through life is a lot like a dark night in search of the path to the potty. It often feels like the walls of the world are closing in. There are wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires. I feel like I'm stumbling in the darkness trying to find the path through life. 

There is a way to find my way. One of my favorite verses to remind me that God knows how to shine his light and show me the path is found in Psalms.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

 ~Psalms 119:105 

So now the question is "What is God's vision for me and for his people?

How do we get there? 

What part do I play personally in his vision? 

I'm reminded that when God told Abram to go into a land that he would show him, Abram got up, took his wife and his belongings and went (Genesis 12:1-5.) He didn't make excuses that he had never been there before or he was afraid of the people or that he didn't want to leave his home and family there in Ur. He just went, one step at a time, one day at a time, trusting God to show him the way. 

Abram didn't have the word of God as we do. He had to be a good listener and actually, so do we. What did the verse say? "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." God is not going to speak from the clouds to give us direction. He has already spoken in his word. If we God's people do not read, study, meditate, memorize, put into action the things God has told us we stand in danger of being harmed in the darkness of this world. Read that first verse from Proverbs again. " Where there is no vision the people perish." So what do we do? The rest of the verse says, he that keeps the law is happy (my paraphrase). How will we keep it if we don't know it? How will we know it if we don't read it. 

Pray for God's vision for his work in our day because he has put us here for a reason.

May I offer a challenge? Read one chapter each day, Monday-Friday. Keep a journal about what the Lord is showing you in each chapter. On Saturday review what you've read and what you've written. On Sunday attend your house of worship and see how God speaks to you through the services in congruence with what you've studied. Follow God's lead as Abram did, one step, one day at a time. 

Heavenly Father, direct our steps in this dark world. Show us our purpose. Give us a vision for your work. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hey Kids: 

Have you thought about the fact that Jesus has put you here in this time and this place for his purposes. He has a reason you were born into your family, your country, your region. What talents has he given you? What direction might he be pointing you? 

This week I challenge you  to find a quiet place to read God's word. Memorize a favorite verse. Ask God his plan for you each day and then follow just as Abram did. 

  

 

Be Still

 

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10

Our grandchildren took us on a hike to their secret hideout. They led us up leafy paths and across boulders to the dirt road rarely traveled anymore. There along the road bloomed dwarf irises and tiny white violets. The youngest reached down gently touching the purple petals of the iris, studying it with her eyes and hands. 

The other child noticed the violets and searched for the heart shaped leaves, but these were a little different. These were the more rare violets with the oblong leaves. As we turned back onto another trail mountain laurel were budding. "Laurel, that's my middle name. I'm named for the mountain laurel."

Ferns were popping up along the trail with fiddle heads beginning to unfurl. The littlest announced, " My middle name is Fern. I'm named after the ferns."

Two small children interacting, connecting their lives to God's creation, appreciating it's beauty, beholding the majesty. How often do we pass by in our hurried lives missing the wonders of purple irises, delicate white violets, clusters of mountain laurel, and the unfurling fronds of ferns. We had not reached a specific secret hideout. We had reached the spot where children naturally Be still, where God is exalted in the earth. We were hidden from all that disturbs and knew that He is God. 

Where is your secret hideout? Where do you go to be still? 

Hey Kids:

Do you have a place where you can go and be still with God? 

Maybe you don't have woods but are there other places?

You might want to try making a quiet spot.

• a sunny corner of your room
• a small chair in the back of the flower bed
• seated on a limb of a leafy tree
• on a rock beside a trickling stream
• on a bench underneath a flowering tree

Maybe you could grow a quiet spot. Stand in the middle of an area where you could plant a circle of sunflower seeds around you. Pull the weeds and watch your flowers grow. By summer you will have your own quiet spot surrounded by sunflowers. 

Blessings, 

Gail

Under the Shadow of His Wings

 

Your Love, O Lord by Third Day

This song came to mind as I read Psalms 36:1-7 (KJV)

Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

Have you ever heard the story of how a fire raced across the fields where a mother hen and her chicks were feeding? When the fire was over the mother hen lay dead but her chicks were safe, hidden under her wings. 

As I read this Psalm I thought about how each item named shows us how the Lord created the universe as a covering reminding us He keeps us under the shadow of His wings. 

• The heavens - God's Mercy is not getting what we deserve. In the heavens, God placed the ball of the sun to remind us He gives us the Light that emanates from Him. He wraps us in the unseen warmth of His loving Holy Spirit. The light and the warmth are all part of the trinity God demonstrates with the sun. 

• The Clouds - God's Faithfulness is demonstrated in the clouds. God is faithful to draw the water into the clouds. Then they release the waters on the dry ground, the plants and animals and us without which everything would die. God never leaves us or forgets us but is faithful to supply our needs. 

• Mountains - God's Righteousness is demonstrated by the unmovable mountains. God's laws never change. We can depend on the fact that what was sin in the past is still sin today. What was right in the past is still right today. God doesn't move the goal post. His laws never change. 

• The Deep - God's Judgements are right. If we were wronged and the judge at a trial turned the defendant lose because it was the first offense, we would feel betrayed. He would be an unrighteous judge. But God is a righteous judge. Sin must be punished so He sent His Son to pay for our offenses, our sins. He has judged His Son in our place and cast our sins into the depths of the seas where He will remember them no more. 
• The Shadow of His Wings - God is trustworthy. He is there for us. We can trust Him and find comfort in all He does. 

How will you put your trust in God's mercy; finding Him faithful this week? 

Father God, thank you for the beautiful universe You have created with such purpose. Help me keep my eyes and heart wide open to Your wonders. In Christ's name. Amen

Hey Kids:

Have you read the book I Went Walking by Sue Williams? 

There are animals hiding in plain sight that go walking with the child once she sees them. 

I wonder what you might find hiding this week that God has put in plain sight to remind us of His mercy, His faithfulness, His righteousness, His judgments. His creation lets us know we can trust Him to take care of us. 

What could be important about a grain of sand, a caterpillar, a sparrow, and other things God created? 

Take a walk. Enjoy your findings. Keep a nature journal. Share your journal with your family and friends.

Blessings,

Gail

Preparing for a New Normal

 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Jeremiah 29:5-8 NIV

The people of Jerusalem were under invasion. Nebuchadnezzar and his armies were taking the people from their homeland, distributing them throughout his empire. The prophet Jeremiah had called them for years to repent and turn back to God but it had fallen on deaf ears. Now they would have to prepare for a new normal. They would be held captive 70 years before returning home. 

Does any of this sound vaguely familiar? Will we have to deal with a new normal? For how long? How should we prepare? What did the Lord tell Jeremiah and the people? 

Who is Squanto?

O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. 
Psalms 105:1

You know that picture in our minds we all get of the Indian brave who walks into the Pilgrim village in the spring of 1621 to show the Pilgrims how to plant corn, and beans and pumpkin? Wasn’t his name Squanto? Or didn’t any one ever tell you about Squanto?

This Thanksgiving tale of the Indian who greeted the Pilgrims with an English “Welcome” and then taught them to plant corn and fish, always seemed to me to be just that – a tale, until I learned how God brought it all about - A slave ship sailing along a shore, kidnapping young boys and taking them back to Spain; an entire tribe wiped out by disease; a lone man returning from Europe to find no one left. There’s far more to the truth than meets the eye here. God is always taking the evil man devises and turning it into good for those that love him. The slave traders of Europe had meant it for evil against the Indians but God used it for good for the people who came seeking to worship him in a new land.

In the Bible Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. They thought he probably died in Egypt until they went there to buy food. Who should they find to provide for them, but their own brother, in control of all the food of Egypt. Joseph’s brothers meant it for evil against Joseph, but God had used it for good.

Tragedy seems to surround us on every hand, but God has not left us alone. He is working all things for our good. Pray for those involved in all the tragedies. Help wherever you can. Do not be afraid, because God is with us through every circumstance.

Blessings,

Gail

Hey Kids:

I remember one Thanksgiving writing a skit with my little brother of the first Thanksgiving. I'm not sure how accurate the skit was, but we had a lot of fun and the grownups thought we were the best.

After we wrote down a few speaking parts we looked for patterns for pilgrim hats and Indian head bands and vests.

Directions weren't as easy to find as they are today. We had to search actual books. No internet in our day much less Pintrest. 

Researching, planning and writing are all fun when we use them for authentic writing. All that means is writing for a real audience for real reasons. Our reason was to share a historical event by performing for the grown-ups at our Thanksgiving dinner.  

I chickened out until my little brother complained that we had already planned the performance and he wanted to do it. I couldn't let little brother show me up.

Have fun sharing your knowledge of God's blessings on our country. I few feathers and a little face paint can make the fun go a long way. 

In His Hand

In His hand are the deep places of the earth;

The heights of the hills are His also. Psalms 95:4

This week we traveled to visit our daughter over 800 miles north and west. By the time we did sight seeing and drove back, we had covered over 2300 miles of America. We were awed by the wind turbines of the plains. We walked down into the earth at the Cave of the Mounds in Wisconsin. We drove through fields of corn and wheat and crossed some of the highest mountains in eastern America. And God was there every mile and step of the way.

When the expanse of miles almost brought me to panic, I remember the depths of the earth and the mountain peaks belong to Him, to God the Creator. Rather than panic, I tried to listen to His voice as He called from His word, 

"Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7 

For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture,

And the sheep of His hand." Psalms 95:6,7

We laid our head in a motel whose walls were covered in pictures of river rocks. For me, they were stones of remembrance. A remembrance of all the good things God has done for me and my family, all the things He has brought us through. Exhausted and filled, we returned home to find everything in order and a happy hound dog to greet us.

How about you? What has God shown you about Himself this week? What memories has He brought to mind? 

Hey Kids:

Have you ever traveled down in a cave or cavern? 

This week we walked down into the Cave of the Mounds in Wisconsin. The guide showed us domes in the ceiling where acid that formed in the waters below had risen to eat out the domes. The guide attempted to explain this happened millions of years ago.

I wondered had she never heard of Noah? Never read Genesis 7:11?

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

A few years ago I visited the Creation Museum in Kentucky. Now there is a replica of the ark. I haven't yet visited except by technology. You may enjoy an internet visit too. Visit ark .

I've seen fish fossils in caves and coal mines. I've seen upright fossilized tree trunks in a coal mine in Virginia. The more I see of God's creation, the more I know He still confirms His word.

What has God shown you that confirms He is Lord and Creator? 

How did it make you feel? 

Can you draw a picture or write a story to share with a friend or family? Don't forget about us. We'd like to hear from you too!

Blessings,

Gail